


Team Bonding

by SharkGirl



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acceptance, Bonding, Comfort, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Gen, Season 1 Spoilers, Self-Acceptance, Sweet, Trans Male Character, Trans Male Lance (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-21 23:00:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14295339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: Pidge's confession strikes a chord with Lance, which leads to an impromptu bonding moment.





	Team Bonding

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Incognito4713](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incognito4713/gifts).



> This takes place right after Pidge's big reveal in the first season. When she tells the team who she really is.
> 
> I'm either really late for the International Transgender Day of Visibility or super early for the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, but either way, this is a gift for my long-time beta and very good friend, Alex~ (He approved it for posting, so I'm super relieved)
> 
> Beta'd by the wonderful Jes and Ghost~ (Cuz this was supposed to be a gift, hehe)  
> Please enjoy!

Pidge released a breath as she walked to her room. Everyone had taken the news well. Better than expected. In fact, most of them had already known and weren’t surprised in the least.

Well, save for Lance.

“Hey, Pidge?”

Speak of the devil…

“Oh, hey, man.” She turned around to face him, inwardly cringing as she braced herself for the inevitable onslaught of questions. _‘Why did you lie?’ ‘Are you seriously a girl?’ ‘Why didn’t you tell me? We’re supposed to be a team!’_ Etcetera.

But, instead of wearing a confused or even hurt expression, Lance just looked…pensive, his gaze trained on Pidge’s sneakers.

“Anything I can do for you?” Pidge offered when the silence stretched on longer than she thought possible for the other paladin.

“Oh.” His looked up, his eyes going wide as an embarrassed flush colored his cheeks. “Sorry, just, uh…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “That was…really brave. What you did today.” He lowered his hand to his shoulder and cleared his throat.

Pidge raised her brows. Sure, it had been hard to keep her secret, but there was no reason to anymore. She was among friends, her teammates. And the odds of Iverson finding out her true identity and expelling her now were slim to none. Heck, even if he did somehow discover it in her absence, it no longer mattered.

“So, um…” Lance continued, biting his lower lip. “I was…wondering…”

Ah, so here come the questions, after all. Well, Pidge was still in a relatively good mood. She didn’t mind answering one or two.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Lance went on. “But…were you, you know…born a girl?”

That one honestly threw her for a loop. She’d been expecting something different.

“Yeah,” she said. “I only pretended to be a boy to gain access to the Garrison’s data,” she explained. “They banned Katie Holt from entering the premises, so I figured my best way in was as a completely different person.”

“Oh, okay. Right.” Lance was looking away again and the words were out of Pidge’s mouth before she could stop them.

“Why do you ask?”

Lance’s head snapped up before he lowered his gaze back to the ground. “I just thought…” He shook his head. “Never mind. It’s stupid.” He started to walk away, but Pidge reached out, hesitantly touching his wrist.

“Hey. If it’s important to you, it’s not stupid, okay?” She removed her hand and gave him her best comforting smile.

“You’re right.” Lance nodded. “I guess I was just kind of excited because… I thought maybe you and I…” He took a deep breath. “I thought we might be the same.” Then he laughed. “Though, technically, I guess we are.”

Pidge furrowed her brow, the wheels in her head turning as she put it all together. _‘Were you…born a girl?’_ Then, suddenly, she figured it out.

“Lance,” she began, interrupting his nervous babbling. “Are you…” She paused, making sure she used the correct terminology. “Trans?”

Lance pursed his lips and then, very cautiously, nodded. “Y-Yeah…I am.”

They were silent for a moment. But Lance was never one to keep quiet for long.

“I guess I just sort of thought we had something in common, ya know?” He gave an awkward chuckle. “And I haven’t really told a lot of people… except for Hunk. But he was my roommate and, like, my best buddy and I-”

“I won’t tell anyone,” Pidge promised. “Not if you don’t want me to.”

He looked relieved. “Thanks.” He smiled. “But, even if we’re not in the exact same boat…err..ship?” He snorted. “It took a lot of guts to admit who you are. And I’m still proud of you.”

She returned his smile. “I appreciate that. Thank you, Lance.” But it was then that she noticed his lower lip quivering. Pidge did not do well comforting others. It was hard to see someone else cry. But they were alone in the hallway. She wasn’t sure where Hunk was. Or if Lance even wanted to see him right now. “Do you…” she managed, stepping closer. “Do you want to talk some more?”

He bobbed his head and, when she turned to walk toward her room, he followed.

They arrived a moment later, Pidge sliding her door open and inviting him inside. “It’s a bit of a mess,” she said more as a warning than an apology. But Lance didn’t seem to mind. He just walked forward and took a seat on her unmade bed. “So…” she began, shifting her weight on the balls of her feet.

“You must have been pretty scared, huh?” he asked suddenly and it took a second for Pidge to catch on.

“Oh, yeah. More nervous, really,” she answered. “I’d been keeping something from my team and that wasn’t fair to you guys.”

“Yeah.” Lance took a deep breath. “Were you scared we’d get upset?”

Pidge shook her head. “No, I…trust you guys. I knew you’d accept me for who I am.” She paused, wetting her lips. “Did…When you… Was it…?” She wasn’t sure how to word it. Thankfully, Lance figured it out.

“My family took it surprisingly well, actually,” he explained. “I mean…not everyone at first, but…my parents were supportive.” He sighed. “I could tell my mom was really upset, though.”

“She was?” Pidge finally took a seat beside him on the bed.

“Yeah,” Lance said. “You see, I’ve got two brothers and a sister. And my big sis wasn’t exactly into the whole girly thing, you know?” He chewed on his bottom lip. “My mom and I always went out for manipedis and facials and stuff like that, so…”

“Those aren’t limited to girls, you know,” Pidge offered and Lance chuckled.

“Yeah, I know. Now.” He gave her a lopsided grin and continued. “Anyway, I told my parents a few weeks before my _Quince_ and I know it broke my mother’s heart because she’d had that damn dress picked out since the day I was born.”

Pidge remained silent, but placed a hand over his on the bed, urging him to continue.

“Anyway, the day came and I searched all over creation for that pink and sparkly nightmare, but…” He turned to face her. “I couldn’t find it anywhere.” He looked forward again. “Anyway, I just got dressed in my usual clothes and went downstairs to tell _Mamá_ it was missing, but the weird thing was, all the lights were all out.

“So, I turned them on and about half the guest list jumped out and yelled, ‘Surprise!’” He snorted. “I thought I was going to pass out, but my dad came over and caught me. You see…” He grinned. “I’d told pretty much everyone and I figured no one would want to come to my _Quinceañera_ , since I wasn’t…what they were expecting. But…”

“They came anyway,” Pidge finished for him, her chest growing warm.

“They sure did,” he answered, practically beaming. “They got me a big ol’ cake, too. And you know what it had written on it?” he asked and Pidge shook her head. “ _It’s a boy!_ ” He laughed. “It was the most ridiculous and thoughtful thing I’d ever seen.” He wiped a stray tear from his eye. “My sister said the bakery had never done a gender reveal for a teenager before, but…hey, they did their best.”

Again, they shared a comfortable silence. But this time, Pidge broke it.

“Thank you for sharing that with me, Lance,” she said, giving his hand a squeeze. “And…if you ever need anything-”

“Yeah. I gotcha.” He leaned over and bumped their heads together. “I’m definitely not looking forward to shark week, to be honest.”

“Me, neither,” Pidge agreed. “Maybe Hunk can figure out how to make us brownies or something?” She suggested.

“Now, that is the best idea I’ve heard all day.”

“You literally came out of the healing pod a few hours ago.”

“Even so,” he insisted. Then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close. “Thanks, Pidgey.”

She ducked her head and smiled. “No problem, man.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! Let me know what you think and feel free to hit me up on my Voltron sideblog [@bleucheesy](http://bleucheesy.tumblr.com)!


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